OPM not opposed to impromptu interviews with PM

Minister with responsibility for Information, Senator Sandrea Falconer, says the Office of the Prime Minister is not opposed to on-location interviews with the media.

Senator Falconer reiterates that media practitioners should follow procedures the Office outlined to the Press Association of Jamaica (PAJ) in a letter in May.

The PAJ, however had rejected those guidelines.

Concerns have again been raised about access to the Prime Minister by the media following an incident last week where a Television Jamaica reporter was shoved by the security detail of the Prime Minister as he sought to interview Simpson Miller.

The Jamaica Information Service reports that in a new release on Wednesday Senator Falconer said journalists who want to interview the Prime Minister during a function should first make a request to a member of the Prime Minister’s Support Team on location.

She added that if granted, such interviews will take place after the Prime Minister has completed her engagement, and not upon her arrival.

Senator Falconer says the OPM has been willing to accommodate on-location interviews with the Prime Minister, contrary to the inference being drawn by some that the Office does not believe in giving access to the media.

However, she says it is important that journalists follow the established procedures.

And the minister with responsibility for information says her door remains open and she is urging the PAJ to come to the discussion table so that concerns can be discussed in a calm and rational way.